Players discover mysterious collectibles in Shadow of the Colossus remake

Could it be hiding an Easter egg or other secret?

Shadow of the Colossus was a beautiful game. The 13-year-old title is still gorgeous on the PlayStation 2 but admittedly, the remake does look spectacular. However, part of the beauty of the game had nothing to do with graphics. It was its simplicity that really made it shine.

Unlike so many other games, SotC did not rely on peppering the world with collectible items to get the player to investigate its stunning environments. The game just naturally led you to explore. Sure there were the lizards and fruits you could collect to improve stamina and health, but even those were dispersed in logical places that you would eventually end up anyway.

The remake has remained faithful to the original except that developers have apparently added a third collectible item in the form of glowing gold coins. Their use or function (if they have any) is not readily apparent.

Players in the community are busying themselves tracking down all of the strange artifacts in hopes of revealing a secret. The thing is, nobody knows what that secret could be or how many trinkets there are to find. So far, players have discovered 70, but nothing has yet been revealed.

Some players who have completed the game have noticed the credits acknowledge Nomad Colossus, who is a YouTuber dedicated to showcasing and exploring the Team ICO worlds found in SotC, ICO and The Last Guardian.

The nod to Nomad says, “Nomad Colossus and the 79 steps to enlightenment.”

This cryptic message has led players to speculate that there are 79 coins (or whatever they are) to collect before revealing a secret. Some think finding them all will open a hidden area or unlock a new colossus. Wouldn’t it be a bummer if they came to discover that the coins did nothing more than award them a trophy?

Kotaku spoke with Sony to get a little information on the item but the spokesperson remained relatively tight-lipped.

“The community seems on the verge of figuring it out on their own,” said the rep. “Spoiling things in a news article is counter to the idea of leaving something for the most ardent fans to discover for themselves.”

Personally, I think it brings a banality to the game. As I mentioned in the onset, the beauty of Shadow of the Colossus was exploring without feeling the need to explore. Adding a mysterious collectible just brings out the anal in me and makes me obsess about finding every single one rather than just relaxing and enjoying the game.

That said, I am quite curious as to what, if anything, these coins bring to the game. I will keep my eye on this one.